I hit the water with all the elegance of a brick, sure i can swim, ive always been a pretty good swimmer but in the ocean its different. Anyway i swim straight for the island with my heart pumping and adrenaline keeping me from drowning. I make the land after all it was only a 5metre swim but am exhorsted..!! All the others cheer and clap and i slowly begin to relax.
The island is amazing, i take a small walk around and it really is like being in a postcard. The palm trees, coconuts, the fish, star fish and of course the weather. We start to take a few pics, and just chill chatting about our travels past and present. We then set up some playing cards under water and put two star fish in, this is to make a photo as you may have seen. Alot of effert went into that il have you know. Getting back to the boat is alot easier as long as the way is clear i can swim there. As quick as anything im back on board and taking photos of the views around, its amazing and one i hope to relive and share.
A local guy comes along in his boat and sells us lobsters for a few dollars a piece, and are lunch is fantastic...! Fresh lobster, salad and potatoes, the trip was turning out to be worth every penny. Once we had eaten we get moving to better places as David put it, i start to fish with Ralphs fishing rod and enjoy the open water. The islands are every where and just as beautiful. They find a spot, surprisingly in dark water inbetween islands to snorkel so i stay on boat and fish, hoping to catch my first fish and match the tuna David and Ralph caught in the open water. I fish all afternoon enjoying my ipod and the fact im on my own, while David cleans the underneath of the boat and the others snorkel. I dont catch a thing not even a cold. We play cards into the night and i enjoy the storm, thunder and lightening late on while trying some night fishing with again no luck.
We stayed in this spot all night and in the morning David asks if we wanna move onto other islands, to which we all agree. The whole day we move from island to island, i get off where possible, fish where not. We see a few ship wrecks, get bait from an island and just enjoy the open water. About 4pm whilst everyone was just opening a bottle of rum and enjoying snacks, it happened. I had been trying but losing interest fast as the snacks begain to appear when the line went tight and gave a little fight. It wasnt hard to reel it in and it certainly wasnt as big as the fish caught by the one arm fishermen but i had finally caught myself a fish.! Brown in colour and as drunk looking as manny he was a wee fella that i reeled, photographed and placed back in the water. My task was complete, i sat amounst the others and began to enjoy rum.
The next day was very similar to the others with just different snacks, islands and adventures really. We saw a very drunk captain party on board with his pals one evening and a massive storm. The sun sets where out of this world but all in all the trip was great. Most importantly i had bite my tongue and not laughed to much at the efforts of frog boy. We didnt even have to leave the boat for the customs of panama and was dropped of in the small village of colon for a night there before moving to panama city the capital. Was/is a trip i would recommend to anyone, backpacking or looking for a holiday, sailing the san blas islands with panamatravel unlimited.

Next installment: The panama canal, more caribbean islands/beaches and friends reunited, a travel buddy for parts of central.

Peace out and much Love Micky xxx